Guys,
I think I have settled on a load for big pigs here in California. Let me know what you think. I chose the 180 grain Hornady RN for my Savage 99 in .308 with 20" barrel. I loaded three rounds each of 44,45, and 46 grains of Varget and Re15. OAL was set at 2.70" (cannalure was not quite into the case). Velocities ran from 2500 up to 2670 in the case of the Varget and 2450 up to 2635 in the case of Re15. The top load of Re15 was a 0.7" group centered 2.5" above the bull. The groups with Varget were a little larger. These loads are over max and the top Varget load cratered the primers slighty. The Re15 loads showed no cratering. There was no difficulty opening the lever. I realize my gun is not as strong as a bolt gun. Do the velocities with this bullet seem reasonable? I believe that a 180 grain RN at 2600fps will be quite efficient as pig medicine. Any comments?

Thanks, NoCAL

NoCAl,

A .308" 180 gr round nose traveling at even 2500 fps will be potent pig medicine out to even 200 yards. I would not strain the M99 by trying for an honest 2600 fps with the 180 gr bullet.

Use Rl-15 and try for 2500-2550 fps and go hunting!!! The pig will not know that you are 50 FPS off your goal.

Good Shooting!!!

50

No point in wrecking that nice M99 for an extra hundred fps.

A 180 gr. RN @ 2500 fps, hits 200 yards with 1353 ft-lbs of energy. @ 2635 fps, 1524 ft-lbs. 170 ft-lbs ain't much. If you need more velocity and reach, you need to go to a lighter bullet weight, not a "hotter" load.

Since you are shooting a round nosed bullet in the first place, you must be expecting fairly close shooting, so extra velocity will not kill a pig any deader.

I'd stick to the RL15 load at 2500 fps if I were you.

Thanks for the replies. You both gave good advice. I guess I will throttle down a little. I was very excited about an under 1" group with a lever action. The other charges produced groups in the 1.25-1.75" range but that is still good out to a couple hundred yards. I'm positive I will not be shooting any further than that and probably quite a bit closer.

Thanks again.

... If you are anticipating large hogs, I might suggest you go with a premium bullet, such as the Failsafe, Partition, or Barnes X.... as you probably know, pigs are amazingly tough bodied... very densely, heavily muscled... and in my opinion, penetration is first priority. I do agree with using a heavy-for-caliber bullet... and the roundnose will probably do the job, but I thought they were designed more for rapid expansion... which might not be so desirable on a big hog. Just a thought...

HG,
Good thought. The Hornady is an Interlock design so I think it will hang together below the point of the "lock". The front end should open up pretty quick. I'm not pushing them all that fast so I feel that they should penetrate sufficiently. The hogs in California can get quite big but average below 200 lbs. I doubt I'll need a premium bullet but you never know! The hunt is in April so I've got some time but I think I'll just stick with this one. It seems to shoot accurately in my Savage. I'll have a buddy with a 300 WinMag shooting 180 grain Partitions as back-up!

NoCAL

NoCal:
I was wondering if you are going to be hunting in thick brush or open country. Down here in Texas
some of the feral hogs get a lot bigger than 200
pounds. Most hogs don't bleed good at all and I
I like a neck shot with a partition. If you hit the shoulder area you may loose your pig. They are amazingly tough. The R-15 with that round
nose should break any neck just fine though. Will
you be hunting at night? I hate tracking at night. Good Luck and good shooting.BLR7

BLR,
The hunting in California can be in open alfalfa fields to manzanita covered hills. It can be very thick. My buddy hunted there last year and his shot was 175 yards across a canyon. Another friend got his at under 100 yards just entering a field. So there is a variety of terrain. The trophy fees for this place are dependant on size so anything under 200lbs is $400 anything over or with 2"+ tusks is $500. I'm of course hoping for something big. I've never used the Interlock on game but everyone says it is the toughest of the non-premium bullets. At the speed I'm pushing it, I don't expect huge expansion. It should zip right through the pig. Anyway, it's all talk until the thing happens!

Thanks all for your replies,
NoCAL

...wow.. that seems a little pricey for hogs.. I was up in Santa Cruz for about 4 months a year or so ago.. and we heard there were lots of places around there that would let you hunt them for free, just to thin 'em out....
...same thing here in Texas... lots of ranchers will let you come hunt them for free, or for a very small fee... they are considered (rightly so) to be a MAJOR pest...

They WERE considered a major pest here too, until the farmers figured out they could make more money by just letting them eat the barley and charging hunters to shoot them, instead of selling the barley.

I'll be leaving for a hog hunt in two weeks. Primary firearm will be a S&W 686 loaded with Fed prem 180gr hardcast bullets.
That sure makes the Savage in .308 sound adequate, doesn't it?
VH

I am quite certain that load at 2500 to 2550 will do just fine. I use the 165 GameKing in my 308 and it has never failed to completely penetrate the animal. The 165 HPBT GameKing is going 2725 fps out of my 25" barreled 308. A friend of uses the same bullet (165 HPBT GameKing) in a 19" barreled 308 @ 2575 fps and he has always got complete penetration and excellet terminal effect. The 180 you are going to use is 15 grains heavier at the same velocity. It will be fine.

Shoot Safe, Shoot Straight......RiverRat

Hey NoCAL, The M99 has one slight problem - case stretching with High Pressure Loads. Look in your Load Manuals concerning "Incipient Case Head Separations".

Since the M99 is a Rear Lock-Up action, as pressure builds during firing, the front of the case will grip the chamber but the casehead will continue to move back as the bolt/receiver flexes. The result is a "groove" around the case interior as the case stretches.

You can create a Feeler Gauge by using a pair of side-cutters to nip off the end of a Paper Clip to create a sharp edge. Then bend that same end 90deg so it has a short scraper-leg of about 1/16". Straighten the rest of the Paper Clip.

Insert the scraper-leg into a case all the way to the bottom and slowly pull it up the inside wall. If you feel the groove, trash the case. If you continue to use it, the Casehead can separate and the hot gases can cut your chamber. (Use a new case to see what it should feel like without the groove.) It is a good idea to do this after every firing in a M99.

Keeping your Loads at the Manual Levels will reduce this problem. And the good news is those Loads still have more than enough energy to kill Hogs.

I've used that same bullet in the early 1970's to hunt Deer, Black Bear and Hogs using "Pulled Down and Reloaded" 7.62NATO rounds in M14s. Worked great when placed properly. Good bullet!

A Central Coast pig...



Hornet Guy,

Free pig hunting for a "walk on" in CA is pretty much a myth. That's pretty much the gun shop BS chatter.

[ 02-10-2003, 00:24: Message edited by: Mike Dettorre ]

fixed the photo